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The Healing Journey
Come and join members of the African Caribbean Cancer Support Group for an afternoon of free pampering. Learn about skin care, make up application, styling and good fitting bras whilst meeting new people and having fun.
It will take place on Friday 19th September 2010 from 1pm to 6pm.
If you are from an African or Caribbean community, please join us. You can book a free place by contacting us on 020 7924 3924 or emailing us here.
Click here to see the leaflet.
The next 4-week Level 1 course of the Healing Journey - Reduce Your Cancer Stress - will start on 14th September at the Centre. Click here to find out more information about the course and click here for booking details.
We organised an afternoon for people affected by cancer and their carers, friends and relatives at the Centre in June .
There was a chance to try some of the therapies such as massage, have lunch and take part in social activities, including a voice workshop, makeover sessions courtesy of Debenhams and a creative art session.
We will be organising another Time for You Day this autumn.
Petra Griffiths, our Director (Services), has been named Life President of the National Conference of Cancer Self Help Groups, which has changed its name to National Cancer Support. The Conference Trustees hope to develop regional events for cancer support groups and centres, and to act as a national voice for the myriad groups across the UK.
At the Conference in July in Manchester, Petra spoke alongside Professor Alastair Cunningham about the Healing Journey Programme, which we have launched in the UK.
The Conference Chair Carl Stonier wrote:
“Your talk and Alastair’s was a great contribution to what many have said was one of the best conferences ever. I certainly found it to be of great interest. The theme of the conference was Looking to the Future – Working Together, to emphasise the importance of all the players in the cancer field working collaboratively, and you certainly showed the embodiment of that theme.”
In addition, Petra and Pauline Wither-Born, our Volunteer Co-ordinator as well as a Centre counsellor, presented a workshop about the Healing Journey.
Both our African Caribbean and Asian Support Groups presented their work to the Conference and you can see pictures of them below.
Click here for more information about the National Conference.
We had a very enjoyable and relaxing visit to Kew Gardens in May. We are extremely grateful to the Goldman Sachs Community Team Works 2010 programme for their generous support again this year and to the wonderful Goldman Sachs volunteers for making the day such a success.
You can see some of the pictures from the day here.
Congratulations to Consuelo Barker for completing the London Marathon 2010 on behalf of the Centre. It's particularly impressive because she had never run a marathon before. We're very proud of her wonderful achievement. Our thanks also go to everyone who has supported her efforts. So please visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/consuelobarker if you would like to offer your support.
We've got three fantastic supporters making huge efforts to help the Centre over the next few months. Please support them.
Felix Greenhalgh with his father Jon is doing a bike ride from London to Paris in May to raise money for the Centre.
Felix's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and, according to Felix, "benefitted hugely from the great service provided by the Centre. I feel very grateful that my mum is still standing so brightly and blissfully. I am lucky and so is my mum that all has gone well, which is why I want to raise money for charity, as there are many other women who do not do so well and their families do suffer."
You can support them at www.justgiving.com/JonandFelixGreenhalgh.
Centre user Paula McLean is walking Hadrian's Wall between 28th May and 6th June to raise money for the Centre. She describes the Centre as "a truly tranquil place with truly inspirational people. It was one of the few places I was able to feel 'normal' during my illness."
You can support her at www.justgiving.com/Paula-McLean.
Susannah York, a Patron of the Centre for many years, nominated us to benefit from some of the auction items she donated when she appeared in the BBC's Celebrity Cash in the Attic. We are extremely grateful to Susannah for her wonderful support, all the staff who were involved with organising the filming and to all the fantastic service users and volunteers who took part in the filming for us.
The 1975 Putney String Orchestra hosted a Knitting Concert on Sunday 28th February at All Saints Church in Putney and the retiring collection raised a over £950 for the Centre. We would like to thank Alison Hunka, the orchestra and everyone who attended for their generosity.
Whole
Foods kindly agreed to host a 5% day at their Clapham Junction Store on Saturday
16th January, which means they donated 5% of their days takings
on the day to us.
Despite fears of a quiet day due to the weather, the event was a great success, providing a fantastic opportunity for our wonderful volunteers to engage with customers about our work.
We would like to thank Whole Foods, their staff and customers for their generous support and enthusiasm for our work with this event and to all the Centre volunteers and staff members who took part.
We were very pleased to put on a Made for Life event at the Centre on 11th December.
It was organised in conjunction with Spiezia Organics from Cornwall and the Made for Life Foundation, and provided women who have been diagnosed or are recovering from cancer with an afternoon of complementary treatments, makeovers, hair and wig styling and medical tattooing advice.
There were four types of mini-treatments:
It was a relaxing and friendly afternoon, and everyone had a very enjoyable time.
We put on our first Meditation and Mindfulness course in November 2009. Mindfulness meditation can be a very effective way for people with cancer and their family members to deal with stress and feel more in control of their life.
Some of the benefits that mindfulness meditators report include:
This special course allowed participants to learn meditation and mindfulness with a smaller time commitment than the usual eight-week format typically taught.
The course leaders were Gary Born and Sud Ubayasiri, who are both experienced meditators as well as qualified meditation teachers.
For more information about mindfulness and the course, please read this article.
Please subscribe to our newsletter to be notified of future courses. There will be another 5 week evening course put on at the beginning of 2011.
In November 2008 we produced a film about the Centre to introduce our work to potential clients and others, helped by the Media Trust charity
It features interviews with Centre clients about the benefits they've gained from the Centre. It also has interviews with Honor, one of our Support Officers; Stephan, our Shiatsu practitioner; Gillian, a Home Visiting volunteer; and Professor Karol Sikora, the Centre's President.
(To view the video, you will need to have Flash Player installed on your browser. Click here to download it. You can also see the video on the YouTube website.)
On 31st July 2007, the Guardian published an article by our Director, Petra Griffiths, which discussed the benefits that self-help can give to people with cancer. It was written in response to an article by Barbara Ehrenreich which had dismissed self-help methods.
The research that Petra quotes in her article comes from the Healing Journey programme, an exciting Canadian project for people with cancer that the Centre has introduced to the UK.
Petra Griffiths, the Centre Director, gave a talk to the National Conference of Cancer Self-Help Groups on the key to quality of life, based on the experience of our members and the reflections of our practitioners.
Addressing the 21st anniversary conference theme of 'the key', Petra observed that "the key is a process with many interconnected levels that each person journeys through at their own pace and in their idiosyncratic way, rather than a magic bullet that opens the door to quality of life for all."
She illustrated nine themes representing approaches that people may find contributes to their wellbeing, including 'Addressing Stressors', 'Human Beings not Human Doings', 'Listening to Ourselves', 'Taking Responsibility' and 'Giving Something Back'.
Petra’s talk was well received and can be viewed in full at www.paulscancersupportcentre.org.uk/pgspeech.html.
If you use the internet, why not make www.everyclick.org.uk your homepage.
Every time you do an internet search from the site, you will be generating a donation to the Centre at no cost to yourself.
What could be easier?